Tuesday, 26 January 2010

Here is the first of several new paintings that I'll be posting over the next few weeks. Yes - it's the Tree of Life (again!) but this is one of those paintings that has wilfully gone off in its own direction. To be honest, for a day or so I had no idea why there were so many circles around and underneath the Tree apart from the fact that they somehow looked 'right'. The title just popped into my head and as soon as I had the title I began to understand the painting. This ought to be the wrong way round to do things but somehow it works for me. I think that it means that all life is delicately balanced on a fragile support, take it too far one way or the other and everything is off kilter. This applies as much to nature as to ourselves and the way we live in the world. It also applies to our inner harmony. Nothing in excess as the old adage goes. Weirdly I feel as though my own painting is wagging a finger at me and I resolve to be more... well.... harmonious.

I hope to have prints of this available at Galley Hill Art in a few days :-)

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

I've opened a new section at Galley Hill Art for black and white photography, my first love from the days when I worked with it at the BBC Hulton (now glorified via several sales and incarnations into the world's biggest picture agency). I'm steadily going to build up a selection of limited edition black and white giclee prints of some of my photographs (more enduring than a photographic print which will only fade and annoy you hugely). I have a horrible feeling that they are nearly all going to be of trees. Going back through all my photos I seem to have a serious tree obsession going on. How very Tolkien.

The trees above are giant beech trees growing over the bank of an iron age promotory hillfort on Sharpenhoe Clappers, which is part of the Chiltern range in Bedfordshire. I have so many photos of the Clappers you wouldn't believe. Anyway, the gnarled roots of this old tree look amazing, curling over the earth bank in a mass of knots. I'm sure this tree must walk about at night going 'hoom hoom'.